Ten Good Men: An Ode of Quotes and Haikus
by ResOmnesBeneFacere
Summary: Dedicated to Stannis' "good men." They may be remembered as traitors by the victors; no songs will be sung about their valor, no monuments erected over their mortal remains. But they were good men, and true. Let us never forget them.


TEN GOOD MEN:

AN ODE OF QUOTES AND HAIKUS

* * *

" _A few good men remain, it's true. Ser Gilbert Farring holds Storm's End for me still, with two hundred loyal men. Lord Morrigen, the Bastard of Nightsong, young Chyttering, my cousin Andrew... but I trust none of them as I trust you, my lord of Rainwood."_

~~~Stannis Baratheon, A Storm of Swords~~~

Dedicated to Stannis' "good men." They may be remembered as traitors by the victors; no songs will be sung about their valor, no monuments erected over their mortal remains. But they were good men, and true. Let us never forget them.

* * *

ROLLAND STORM

* * *

" _The Bastard of Nightsong had commanded the rearguard that allowed Stannis to reach the safety of Salladhor Saan's galleys, but he worshiped the Warrior with a faith as fierce as he was."_

" _The Bastard of Nightsong had a pox-ravaged face and an air of tattered chivalry…They were all good men in their own ways, Davos thought. And they will all be dead men soon, if this night's work goes badly."_

" _No Song So Sweet" (motto of House Caron, of which Rolland was a member)_

* * *

 **A Storm, they named you;**

 **Did the name matter to you?**

 **A knight at the last.**

* * *

 **A knight of summer?**

 **Nay, one who knew the Warrior.**

 **Na'er a song so sweet.**

* * *

" _Only a token force remains to defend the island. The Lyseni are gone from the bay, and the great part of Lord Stannis's strength with them._ _"_

* * *

 **Sound the horn, Rolland;**

 **A king will avenge your death.**

 **Of such are songs made.**

* * *

 **Yet lost is our king;**

 **Who shall avenge him, or you?**

 **But you knew your fate.**

* * *

" _Dragonglass…I have sent word to Ser Rolland my castellan to begin mining it. I will not hold Dragonstone for very much longer, I fear, but perhaps the Lord of Light shall grant us enough frozen fire to arm ourselves against these creatures, before the castle falls."_

* * *

 **Snow, Imp, Dany;**

 **Dragons and black dragonglass.**

 **Of such will men shout.**

* * *

 **But for the bastard,**

 **Mining the arms for mankind,**

 **Spare a single thought.**

* * *

" _The pox-scarred bastard that Stannis had left to hold his castle was no callow tourney champion but a seasoned killer. If the gods were good, he would give Ser Loras the glorious end he seemed to want."_

" _I never saw a braver knight," Waters said, "but he (Loras Tyrell) turned what could have been a bloodless victory into a slaughter. A thousand men are dead, or near enough to make no matter. Most of them our own. And not just common men, Your Grace, but knights and young lords, the best and the bravest."_

" _Redwyne had miners working to drive a tunnel underneath the castle walls, but that was too slow for the Knight of Flowers. No doubt he was thinking of your lord father's people suffering on the Shields. Lord Waters says he ordered the assault not half a day after taking command, after Lord Stannis's castellan refused his offer to settle the siege between them in single combat."_

" _We'll have maidens weeping into their wine all across the realm when Loras dies."_

" _Jaime will enter all his (Loras Tyrell's) deeds in the White Book, and the singers will sing of him for a thousand years."_

" _When he (Loras Tyrell) dies I must raise a statue of him somewhere, and give him a funeral such as King's Landing has never seen. The smallfolk would like that."_

* * *

 **Do they sing of you?**

 **Will family remember?**

 **Does a maid mourn you?**

* * *

 **Will they take pity,**

 **And light a candle for you?**

 **Or shed but one tear?**

* * *

 **Death found you alone,**

 **Foes the only company.**

 **Not a soul to mourn.**

* * *

 **The Carons are gone;**

 **Down the banners fall idly.**

 **Is the song silent?**

* * *

 **Ser Loras Tyrell,**

 **Threw away a thousand men.**

 **Of him the fools sing.**

* * *

 **But where did they break?**

 **Who defied all, and smote true?**

 **You, Ser Rolland Storm,**

* * *

 **Raise the nightingale!**

 **Sound the trumpet, one last time.**

 **For the rightful king!**

* * *

 **Na'er a song so sweet**

 **As that which you sang, Rolland.**

 **That which na'er be heard.**


End file.
